“You will be the Chairperson to the humorous speech contest.” I read those email lines and I jumped into a happy dance! YAY ME! I was thrilled and privileged to be selected as a Chairperson for the largest Speaking Conference in MENA, DTAC 2017.
A sudden rush of nervousness stopped my happy dance. Standing in front of an audience of proficient speakers and prominent Toastmasters was frankly a scary thought. As if that wasn’t challenging enough, I was also expected to be funny while being among the top humorous speakers of the region. ‘You can do it, Zahraa’ I told myself. I had to dust off my self-doubt and pull out some belief reflecting back on my experience. I reminded myself that I just won seven trophies within my first five months of joining Toastmasters, that must count for something, right?
On the day of the event, I put on my new lipstick and same old smile, and I took a deep breath telling myself that I’ll just have fun. I stepped on the stage with my cheat sheets in my hands, ready to show what I practiced. I started delivering what I rehearsed until the contest’s Chief Judge approached the podium and told me to stop and wait because one of the judges is not in the hall yet. Suddenly I found myself facing the audience’s puzzled eyes with no cheat sheets to answer from. Those seconds of silence felt like ages. “Have fun“, an inside voice reminded me. A moment later, I found myself casually speaking, cracking jokes, certainly having so much fun.
It was an altering moment when I decided to stop worry and enjoy my time instead. We always need to remember to clear out our doubts with some self-belief and a lot of fun.